By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Parallel translations
- WEB By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
- KJV Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
- BSB By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
- NASB By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.
- NLT By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
By faith we grasp that God created the universe by his word, calling the visible world into being from nothing. Creation itself is an article of faith, not something we observe.
Overview
The chapter's first example of faith is the believer's own confession about origins: God spoke and the cosmos came to be (Genesis 1). "What is seen" did not arise from pre-existing visible material but from God's powerful word. This grounds faith in the Creator who is sovereign over all, and the same word by which God made the world is the word incarnate in Christ, through whom all things were made (John 1:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 33:6By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- John 1:3All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.
- 2 Pet 3:5For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
- Rom 4:17As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
- Acts 17:24The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands,
- Rev 4:11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”
- Heb 1:2has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Rom 1:19–21because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.
- Jer 10:11“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’”
- Gen 1:1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking.
- Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
- Jer 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 11:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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